U 358

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U 358
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Type : VII C
Field Post Number : 50 646
Shipyard: Flensburg shipbuilding company
Construction contract: October 26, 1939
Build number: 477
Keel laying: June 25, 1940
Launch: April 30, 1942
Commissioning: August 15, 1942
Commanders:

First Lieutenant
Rolf Manke

Flotilla:
Calls: 5 activities
Sinkings:
  • 3 merchant ships
  • 1 warship (1192 t)
Whereabouts: Sunk north of the Azores on March 1, 1944

U 358 was a German submarine thatmainly patrolled the North Atlanticduring World War II . During a venture in 1944, this boat stayed underwater for almost 38 hours in a battle with British naval forces, which was probably the longest time a Kriegsmarine submarine has ever dived.

Construction and technical data

The Flensburger Schiffbaugesellschaft was less involved in the U-boat building program of the Kriegsmarine. In Flensburg, in addition to necessary repairs and overhauls, six new type VII C boats were to be produced every year. However, several air strikes on the city eventually led to the cessation of submarine production there.

The said VII boats were also called "Atlantic boats". The 66.5 m long submarines displaced 871 m³ of water when submerged and were driven underwater by two electric motors with a total of 750 hp to a top speed of 7.6 knots (kn) . When sailing above water, this was between 17.0 and 17.7 kn and was made possible by two diesel engines with between 2800 and 3200 hp.

commander

Rolf Manke was born on December 21, 1915 in Berlin-Lichterfelde and joined the Navy in 1935 . He completed his submarine training in 1942 and then served as the first officer on watch on U 576 . Following the construction instruction on U 358 , he put the boat into service on August 15th. Under his command, the boat completed five operations, in the course of which three merchant ships and one warship were sunk.

Commitment and history

The Neva was sunk by U 358 in spring 1943
The Wentworth had to be abandoned after being torpedoed by U 358

U 358 was stationed at the base of the 7th U-Flotilla in Saint-Nazaire . The boat arrived here on March 8, 1943, following the first venture. From Saint-Nazaire, Manke set out for four other ventures in which the boat was used in various sea areas in the North Atlantic and Central Atlantic - including south of Greenland , east of Newfoundland and off the Canary Islands . On these ventures, Commander Manke sank three ships and damaged another so severely that it had to be abandoned.

On January 22, 1943, the Swedish steamer Neva with 1,456 GRT was sunk. Four days later Manke torpedoed the Norwegian tanker Nortind with 8,221 GRT. On May 5, Manke attacked two British steamers south of Greenland that were part of the ONS 5 convoy . The Bristol City was sunk with 2,864 GRT and the Wentworth was damaged by a torpedo hit from the stern torpedo tube. The British steamer was unable to continue its voyage and was evacuated but did not sink. Since the Wentworth could not be made roadworthy again, the HMS Loosestrife , a Corvette of the Flower class , tried to sink the ship, but did not succeed. The Wentworth was given up and is considered a total loss. On February 14, U 358 left Saint-Nazaire for its last expedition.

Sinking

On February 29, 1944, the boat was involved in a skirmish with four British warships and remained under water under repeated depth charges for 38 hours - the longest time a submarine was submerged during World War II.

The boat was first spotted by the British frigate HMS Garlies early this morning on February 29 . The hunt for the boat that followed was followed by three more warships, but since Commander Manke had the diving depth, direction and speed constantly changed over a period of several hours, the attack on U 358 was unsuccessful . Through careful maneuvering, Manke was able to avoid the attacks of the four pursuers during the day and the following night, while constantly underwater. However, it was not possible to free the boat from the ASDIC detection . The ASDIC crews of the pursuers persuaded their commanders to continue the hunt for the boat. Expecting that the boat would appear in the dark to escape, the pursuers stopped the attacks on March 1st when it was dark again. U 358 came to the surface around 7:00 p.m. and sank the frigate HMS Gould with 1,192 t ( location ) north of the Azores . When doing the tower came the boat to the surface, it was with artillery fire and depth charges from the frigate HMS Affleck sunk ( location ).

Only one crew member survived, 50 men were killed. The survivor was picked up by the Affleck .

Notes and evidence

  1. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg a. a. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 , p. 255.
  2. ↑ Bodo Herzog: German U-Boats 1906–1966. Karl Müller, Erlangen 1996, ISBN 3-86070-036-7 , p. 196.
  3. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 1: the German submarine commanders. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1996, ISBN 3 8132 0490 1 . Page 153
  4. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 3: German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 2001, ISBN 3-8132-0513-4 . Page 176
  5. ↑ Peter Padfield: The Submarine War. 1939-1945. License issue. 1999, p. 325.
  6. ^ Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars , Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing near Munich 1997, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 , pages 180-181

literature

  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 .
  • Peter Padfield: The Submarine War. 1939-1945. License issue. Bechtermünz-Verlag, Augsburg 1999, ISBN 3-8289-0313-4 .